Lumpy dog

[tea4two4three]

Over the last year my, small, 11 year old dog has started to get increasingly more lumps, bumps and warts. We've been keeping an eye on one in particular and after a scratching incident when he split the skin over it we've taken him to the vets. They don't seem overly concerned at that one but have raised concerns over a couple of others, and included in our options is surgery when they will just remove the whole lot.

I'm really wary about the surgery as he is getting on a bit and i don't want him going in and not coming out of it. However, if these are melanomas and we ignore them it could cause him an early demise regardless.

Anyone else been in this dilema? Any vets out there who can give me more advice than simply 'i can only give you the options'.

The other problem is we only have annual insurance which is up in April. If we choose to keep an eye on it then any insurance we take from April onwards won't cover the operation.

All advice appreciated.

Can they biopsy without removing the lot?

Hey, they can only biopsy the larger lump and have told us it could possibly come back inconclusive anyway. The smaller ones they are concerned about are too small to biopsy and would just have to come off.

Do you have any reason to suspect he wouldn't make it through surgery?
We had a cat who was about 17. She needed major abdominal surgery to remove a blockage and was luckily fine.

Only that he is small and getting on a bit. I've always had dogs and the advice has generally always been that as they get older the are less likely to survive the anesthetic so to only put them under is absolutely necessary.

Dogs do generally get lumpy as they age, but it's always a cause for concern. The way I would go about it is to keep a good eye on all lumps to see if they get bigger, burst etc. If it is not affecting or causing any pain and the vet is not concerned I would suggest leaving treatment for now.

If your dog's health does start to suffer then I would take them into the vets and see what your options are.

our dog is 13 years old now. he started developing lumps and bumps a few years ago - for the most part they are fat cysts. our vet(s) told us that usually those are fine unless they start getting too big, or if they develop their own blood supply. last year he developed two hemangiomas (blood tumours), and he went in for surgery and had them removed, along with another benign cyst. we had a biopsy done after that to see if it was cancer and they came back negative luckily. a couple months later he got a hematoma in one ear and had to be put under again for that surgery. however, our guy is a big guy (100lb golden), and he always comes out looking like nothing happened! i think you have to rely on your vet to tell you if your dog is healthy enough to get through GA, and if you don't trust them, try and get a second opinion.

One of my dogs has got quite a few lumps and warts, the vet just keeps an eye on them, a couple were tested and turned out to be fatty lumps. Can I ask why your insurance wouldn't cover is not just a continuous insurance policy?

Also if it is any reassurance I used to work at a vets and it's rare that dogs don't come around from anaesthetic. Saw several 6 week old a week pups go under with no problem.
Due to your dog being a smaller breed they also tend to live longer than larger breeds so there's a good chance he will live upto 15 years+